Colorado deploys monkeypox dashboard amid “significant” case count

The Colorado Division of Public Well being printed a web-based dashboard Thursday to trace rising monkeypox circumstances — and corresponding demographic knowledge — throughout the state.

Why it issues: 1000’s of susceptible Coloradans are waitlisted for the vaccine, and the brand new software may assist native well being leaders make sure the restricted doses go to the folks and communities that want them most.

By the numbers: Of the 168 identified monkeypox circumstances within the state, practically two-thirds have been in metro Denver.

• Cisgender males characterize 83% of those that examined optimistic. Individuals who establish as homosexual make up two-thirds.
• Folks between ages 25 and 44 account for greater than three-fourths of circumstances.
• 53% of monkeypox sufferers are white males, although Black and Hispanic residents seem like overrepresented in case counts.
• Six folks have been hospitalized. No fatalities or pediatric circumstances have been reported in Colorado.

Of word: Demographic data has been omitted on the county degree to guard folks’s privateness.

What they’re saying: “There’s cause for concern for monkeypox as a result of we’re seeing a rise in infections” amid a good provide of vaccines, Denver Well being’s chief medical officer Connie Value mentioned at a briefing Thursday.

• Sure, however: The virus will not be as transmissible as COVID-19, and “it appears unlikely it could evolve to be that approach,” Value famous.

What’s subsequent: Colorado well being officers have distributed greater than 3,500 doses to native well being suppliers, and are making ready to deploy much more in gentle of the Biden administration’s announcement Thursday to fast-track its monkeypox vaccine distribution effort.

• State leaders are additionally working with neighborhood companions to place up vaccine clinics and ramp up an consciousness marketing campaign.

The massive image: Colorado is one in all a number of locations throughout the nation, together with California, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., to have lately deployed a monkeypox knowledge dashboard.

• The strikes come as case counts rise nationwide, significantly alongside the coasts, and frustration grows amongst states claiming the White Home is shifting too slowly.